


SSO Week August 2016

by Centeris2



Category: Star Stable
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-01
Updated: 2017-01-01
Packaged: 2018-09-13 21:43:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 4,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9143407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Centeris2/pseuds/Centeris2
Summary: My collection of entries for the SSO Week held in August, 2016. Focuses mostly on my starter horse, Midnightwarrior, dealing with Rebecca's capture by Dark Core (from a previous SSOWeek).





	1. Longing

“He got out again?” Elizabeth asked the owner of the Valedale stable

“Alex found him in Harvest Counties near Jarlahiem, just watching the ocean,” Claire explained, watching the horse hang his head, unmoving, listless. 

“Poor horse, doesn’t understand why Rebecca hasn’t come back.”

“I know I said I wouldn’t ask questions when you brought Midnightwarrior to me to watch over, but it’s been days-” Claire broached the subject only to be shot down immediately. 

“Then don’t ask.”

“Elizabeth, it’s been over a week since you brought Midnightwarrior in.” Claire’s voice was hushed, and she glanced around to make sure anyone else nearby wasn’t close enough to hear.

“I will cover the cost, just take care of him.” Elizabeth requested before heading back to her cottage. As she turned and left Midnightwarrior’s lifeless eyes and ears focused on Elizabeth. Claire said nothing, startled by the sudden tense anger from the horse, but Midnightwarrior resumed his lethargic stance, as if too tired to remain angry.

They thought he didn’t understand, but he did, and it made him furious. But they couldn’t understand him, nor did they try to. After all they didn’t think he was really going to be a soul steed, he was a horse, he could sense these things. Namely he sensed their doubt and condescension toward him, and toward Rebecca, for their inability to communicate like the others. He was just a horse to them. Fools. As if being a horse was by default a bad thing, making him lesser than a human. They didn’t understand so much of the world that was so plain to horses, their limited human senses restricting them so much they’re practically blind. 

His coat twitched, the phantom sensations of pain hitting him once more, this time on his forelegs. The druids that stood in the doorway and looked at him, speaking in hushed tones as if he couldn’t hear them, they disgusted him. Standing around like scarecrows, fixed in their positions and refusing to move. He knew Rebecca was on the Dark Core platform, he had seen her off and knew she was not returning before the boat returned to shore. But he could not swim to the oil rig, and he could not convince the boat man to take him to her. And of course the druids had done nothing. Both he and Rebecca knew the risks, but that didn’t make it any less bearable. She was still alive, and he felt them torturing her. He longed to force her pain onto the druids, make them understand what she was suffering for them when they were doing nothing to help her. After all, if he, a normal unsoul bonded horse, could feel her pain, shouldn’t they? Shouldn’t the druids in all their magic and connections be able to sense who was alive and who was suffering?

Of course not. So Midnightwarrior wasn’t a soul steed, so Rebecca wasn’t a soul rider, that did not make them any less of a force to be reckoned with. 

But she was not here. She had been on that platform for days. Every night and every day when he was left alone he would try to get as close to her as possible. Even if he couldn’t reach her, he hoped she could sense him and take some small comfort knowing he was there on the shore, waiting for her. 

The cold wind blew through the stable, the coming storm bringing a chill and sense of dread to everyone who felt it. Midnightwarrior took in a deep breath, the energy building in the air around him. The energy exploded in an instant, the flash and shattering thunder from the lightning outside startled one of the more timid horses.

He knew he needed to leave, the lightning spurring him to act onto the growing feeling that he needed to run, he needed to fight. He needed Rebecca. Her fear, her adrenaline, her rage, it all flooded him and he leapt out of Valedale stables, charging into the woods.


	2. Beach

The thunder and lightning bombarded Midnightwarrior’s senses, combined with the ferocity with the wind made the countryside of Jorvik hazardous to traverse. Or it would be if you weren’t a horse born and raised here. No one was going to try to stop him during this escape of his, all other humans were seeking shelter. It made the trip easier, and Midnightwarrior did not stop running until he was pacing the coastline of the Harvest Counties. 

Rainwater and ocean spray mixed on his body, the driving rain in a battle with the waves to see which could soak Midnightwarrior the most. The waves on the shore were erratic thanks to the storm, pulling away and exposing large stretches of sand before it came rushing in and clawed its way up the shore. This was the fine line that Midnightwarrior patrolled, looking out over the waves, looking for any sign of Rebecca in the flashing sea. 

All at once a boat appeared on the waves, tossed and shoved but forcing its way to the beach, and Midnightwarrior knew who was in the boat. Well, one of them anyway. He whinnied and reared, shouting to her and telling her that he was here, he was waiting. The boat tried to adjust course as best as it could, so Midnightwarrior ran to the spot where Rebecca beached the boat. He only paid enough attention to Justin to assess that he was not a threat before Midnightwarrior was upon Rebecca, snorting and rubbing and moving her with his neck and head out of the boat and away from the snatching waves. She reeked of blood, salt, and waste, but she was here and with him again and he could protect her again and he was so relieved to hear her voice and feel her even if her hands were burned and bloody.

Justin stumbled up the beach behind the horse and girl, at first worried that Midnightwarrior was going to kill them when he saw a dark horse charging at them and tackling Rebecca. But all he had to do was stand back and let Rebecca and Midnightwarrior have their reunion. She clung to the horse, shaking as she sobbed and wailed and repeated over and over that she was back. Justin was surprised by Midnightwarrior, who somehow also appeared to be sobbing in pain and relief, huffing and neighing and holding Rebecca so tightly with his neck and head that Justin could only barely make out her legs. 

The crash of a particularly high wave reminded Justin that they needed to get off the beach and get moving somewhere safe, from Dark Core and the storm raging over head.

“We need to get moving!” he had to shout to be heard over the rain and waves, but Rebecca understood, and to Justin’s surprise so did Midnightwarrior. Without any instruction that Justin could see Midnightwarrior bent down so that Rebecca could mount, and looked at Justin, waiting. Justin took it as an invitation and climbed aboard. As they rode Justin realized that Rebecca was not directing Midnightwarrior, she was merely hanging on. Feeling a bit nervous Justin reached around Rebecca to at least get a hold of Midnightwarrior’s mane. The horse didn’t show that he noticed Justin grabbing him, carrying them on his own through the forests back to Valedale. Justin glanced down the road that would lead to Moorland, but knew it was too close to the beach crawling with Dark Core, so he bit his tongue and let Rebecca, or more specifically her horse, lead the way.


	3. Gold

Elizabeth snuggled into her armchair by her fireplace, listening to the soft rain after the storm. She barely noticed a knock on her door, and was startled when she heard the knocking turn into a banging, rushing to the door to see what was happening. Had Midnightwarrior escaped again? 

“Justin!?” Elizabeth was clearly surprised, staring at the soaking young man on her doorstep. Was this some trick?

“Um, hi, Elizabeth?” he stammered before making a pointed look past her into her house.

“Oh! Right, um, come in?” Elizabeth was still wary, but Dark Core wouldn’t send Justin out to do their bidding, would they? To add to her surprise Midnightwarrior walked behind Justin into Elizabeth’s living room, the dark horse originally concealed by the night and rain. Furthermore, Rebecca was on his back. She didn’t even know what to do about Midnightwarrior kneeling down onto the rug in front of the fireplace, Rebecca not saying anything as she slipped from her horse’s back and plopped herself down on the rug, too tired to do anything more. 

“What… what happened?” the druid stammered, looking from the bloody woman, the horse, and the man in confusion. Justin took a deep breath, prepared to speak, and then took in another deep breath.

“I’m sorry, Elizabeth, for all the trouble I caused. Had I known what Dark Core, who my grandfather… I… I’m sorry.”

“You’re back now, and that is what matters.”

“I wish I could help, do something, something to make up for what I did, but I can’t do anything to help.”

“Any information you have about Dark Core will be worth more than gold.” Elizabeth didn’t notice Midnightwarrior’s snort. Rebecca, in her barely awake state, leaned on him and slowly ran her hand over his skin. He could tell she wasn’t aware enough to process what she was hearing, but he was angry for her. How much had Rebecca risked, and suffered, for the druids, and now they were ignored on the floor? Humans were so strange, but in a way he agreed with Elizabeth. Justin’s knowledge of Dark Core was worth gold. And gold to a horse was worthless.

“Can, um, do you have any towels or something we can change into?” Justin felt awkward just dripping on Elizabeth’s floor. 

“Oh my goodness! Yes, sorry come this way!” Elizabeth lead Justin around the house, loading him up with every towel she could find. While Justin dried himself off Elizabeth threw towels over the horse in the middle of the living room and wrapped Rebecca up in towels. Midnightwarrior did not snap at Elizabeth, although he wanted to after the past several days, but now the druid woman was being helpful again. He let out a deep snort and rested his head on the floor, watching Elizabeth as she helped Rebecca to her feet and led her to her bedroom to change.

Justin returned so that Midnightwarrior was not left alone for long, and he rubbed down the steaming horse, trying to get the water off the horse. Midnightwarrior appreciated the attention, and decided Justin’s worth was better measured in hay. Hay was significantly more valuable than gold to a horse.


	4. Converse

It was strange not smelling salt in the air, or tasting iron whenever she opened her mouth. Her skin no longer prickled from dark energy saturating everything around her, and there was no hum of machinery everywhere. Instead she was sitting in The Hollow Woods, on a hill above Valedale. The past day or so was a haze of pain and trying to process when Elizabeth and Lisa were trying to heal her. Her hands still burned, but they had saved her hands from the worst of the burning the molten steel had inflicted. On the bright side they had been able to repair the nerve damage and her hands were no longer charred. On the downside she could now feel the residual damage thanks to the now functioning nerves.

“I know,” she murmured as Midnightwarrior, who was standing beside her, blew in her hair. 

“I missed you too. But I’m glad you weren’t there.” The horse snorted and stomped a hoof, clearly not agreeing with you.

“At least only one of us got scars from it, if you had been there they probably would have tortured you too, or even killed you.” He nudged her head, lipping at her hair.

“It hurts, but it’ll be fine. Thankfully the druids are good at healing. Even if they couldn’t completely save my hands at last I didn’t lose them.” Midnightwarrior breathed on her hand, smelling the burn damage and the magic that still lingered there.

“Who are you talking to?” The voice made the woman and horse turn and look, seeing Justin looking at them in confusion.

“Oh! You can talk to Midnightwarrior?” he asked in a hush, not sure how much he could say out in the open.

“Not like the soul riders can.” Her voice was tight and she didn’t look at him.

“So, uh, how are you doing?” Justin asked, standing awkwardly next to her, not sure if he should sit or not.

Her tense silence was enough of an answer.

“Alright, um, look,” she didn’t look at him, “I’m just… I want to say- I’m-sorry. Sorry. I’m sorry. There, alright? Will you talk to me now?”

Midnightwarrior stomped a hoof, nudging his rider and drawing her attention to the hoof.

“‘Sorry.’ That makes everything better?” Justin didn’t realize it was a question and sighed in relief.

“Yes! Thank you, I feel so much better! This is great! All the druids have accepted my apology now, awesome!” She looked up at him in shock at how much of an idiot.

“I suppose sorry is a magical word like that, making you feel better after hurt,” Rebecca said as she stood. Midnightwarrior took a step back to give him human space.

“Yeah! It really is, I guess those ‘magic words’ our parents taught us really- what are you doing?” Justin was distracted by Rebecca picking up a dead branch from the ground. She just smiled at him before hitting him with the branch with all her strength, the wood shattering into splinters and sending him to the ground.

“What was that for!?” Justin demanded, clutching his bleed and bruised face. 

Rebecca just shrugged before offering, “sorry.”

“What?” Justin was totally bewildered.

“I said sorry, that makes it better, right? That stopped the pain, right? Everything is fine now, right?” He expected her to be screaming, shouting, yelling at him in anger. But her voice was even worse, it was severe, cold, cutting. He swallowed, close to tears but not from the branch to the face.

She didn’t wait for another apology, Midnightwarrior already kneeling for her to mount and take her somewhere more secluded.


	5. Fine Dining

Midnightwarrior led Rebecca to the apple grove along the Silversong river for peace and quiet. He felt her hurt and bitter rage, she wanted to forgive Justin, wanted to forget and move on, but it was so fresh, the pain so deep, she couldn’t do it. But the sweet smell of apples and the soft sound of running water helped to distract her, and she was able to relax her hold on Midnightwarrior’s mane.

“Good spot,” she vocalized her approval, dismounting and looking through the apples on the ground. She found one that did not have any rot or bugs, and after washing it off in the river for good measure she bit into it. 

“You’d think you were at a fine dining establishment,” she laughed as she watched Midnightwarrior gobble up apples and grass. His thinness had not gone unnoticed, he clearly had been off his feed when she was gone, so she was glad he was eating more to return to a healthy weight. She, like her horse, needed to eat up so that she could heal and regain weight after her captivity. So she ate her apple and sat underneath the trees. Midnightwarrior did not mind finishing her apple for her, huffing as he watched her get a second apple. He was happy she was also eating more than she normally did, he, like her, wanted her to regain weight. 

Three apples down and Rebecca was on her back with her hands up above her. She inspected them against the background of the tree canopy, her hands bright red and still tingling. The red extended down her arms, marking the path that the molten steel had taken when she had melted her chained. According to the druids the red would fade into scars, but she had no idea how long that would take. Looks like she would be wearing gloves from here on out, to avoid questions she didn’t want to deal with.

Midnightwarrior snuffled near her, nudging another apple toward her. She laughed and picked it up, tossing it between her hands.

“I’ll have to get us some sugar cubes. Now that would be fine dining.” Midnightwarrior rubbed her cheek with his velvet nose, approving the idea.


	6. Stable

Rebecca and Midnightwarrior returned from the apple grove and were greeted by Lisa and Starshine when they approached Valedale.

“Rebecca, hey!”

“Hi, Lisa, Starshine, you’re not out patrolling?” Rebecca halted Midnightwarrior next to the white stallion.

“I just gave my report.”

“Oh, anything new?”

“No changes anywhere.”

“I suppose that is good news.” Rebecca wondered why Lisa looked so awkward, shifting and just keeping it to small talk.

“Actually,” Lisa got up the nerve to speak her mind, “I wanted to check in on you. How are you doing?”

“Well. I am doing well. Hands still hurt a bit but you said that would happen, so everything seems to be healing up properly.” At least they were now on the subject that was making Lisa so nervous.

“Seriously? I mean, that’s good.” Lisa added the second part hastily, embarrassed.

“Yeah… why?” Now Rebecca was very confused.

“It’s just… you’ve been through an ordeal but you seem so… stable. Have you talked to anyone about what you went through? Not like telling the druids what happened for a report and so they know what is going on, but I mean like, for emotional healing and closure.” Rebecca bit her lip and glanced down at the horse beneath her. She had talked extensively to Midnightwarrior about what had happened, but as far as other humans went she had remained silent. 

“No, I haven’t. But what am I supposed to talk about? The druids know what I went through, do I have to recount every single detail of the interrogations and torture to someone? If I’m handling it well now why do I need to change what I’m doing?” Truth be told she wasn’t doing well. She kept it together and bottled up when she was around others, but when she was alone she could a jumble. She could be sobbing or screaming or shaking or all three, it depended on what the combination of feelings was at that moment. She knew she was angry, there was rage down in her gut that was just waiting to get a hold of someone from Dark Core, someone she could blame and tear apart with her hands. But rage and revenge wasn’t going to stop the nightmares, rage couldn’t stop the fear. But she hadn’t told any human that. 

“Well… the others aren’t sure you’re really recovered. Obviously you are still healing but, like, mentally. We’re worried about you. If you aren’t really dealing with the stress and what happened then it would be unwise to use you for, well, anything.” Lisa tried to make her point clear but was also very apologetic, knowing it wasn’t what Rebecca wanted to hear.

“Seriously? They won’t let me patrol or go on missions until I talk to one of them about what happened? What about the fact that I don’t want to do that? Is that just irrelevant to them? Wouldn’t forcing me to talk about it kind of prevent the healing they want me to have?”

“Talking about it will help you process it, and it will be good to have a proper support group, not to mention our community to help you. But we don’t know how exactly to help if you don’t tell us what you are feeling and what you have felt.”

“I’ll talk about it with someone just… just not yet. I’m not ready to talk about it with anyone right now.” Which was a lie, of course, she had already told Midnightwarrior everything. But she didn’t think the druids or Lisa were counting Midnightwarrior in the people she should talk to.

“That’s fine! I’m just glad to hear that you’ll talk about it at some point! You know you can talk to me, or any of the girls, or any of the druids, whenever you want! Now sorry but I got to get back to my post!” Lisa waved goodbye, trotting away.


	7. Mine

Rebecca was sitting silently again, she had directed Midnightwarrior to take her to the four rune stones outside of Valedale and she was now sitting on the ground looking at them. She was lost in thought, and Midnightwarrior stayed close, his thoughts wandering.

He knew she was mulling over Lisa’s words, that the druids wanted Rebecca to talk about her trauma. To say that he wasn’t insulted would have been a lie. She had confided in him, he understood what she had experienced because he had felt it himself. And yet turning to him did not qualify as good enough. Nor did they seem to even care that he himself had suffered. Were the druids truly so blind that they couldn’t tell he had been in pain when they were separated? The soul steeds had been busy so he had not been able to tell them so they could convey his thoughts to the humans. It infuriated Midnightwarrior that they couldn’t understand him, he just wished he could talk to Rebecca, to the humans. 

But he couldn’t talk to Rebecca, there was a block in their relationship that prevented them from speaking like the soul riders and their soul steeds. He feared that they would find another horse to replace him, what if he really wasn’t Rebecca’s soul steed? She clearly had magic, but he did not have the same abilities as the soul steeds. Only other horses could understand him.

And yet Rebecca was able to understand him, in a way. He could feel her pain, feel her emotions. While he could not make out words in her mind unless she spoke them aloud, he still sensed the meaning and emotions in her mind. He knew where she wanted to go without her say, and when to stop and when to run before she even could apply pressure to his sides. Surely she could do the same for him, how else could she trust him to know when she wanted to be somewhere alone or somewhere safe? Was it just trust that made her speak to him as if he understood? Was she skilled at reading body language or did she make up his side of the conversation when she spoke to him?

A tongue click distracted him and made him glance at her. She was still staring forward but she raised her hand toward him in invitation. He shifted and reached for her hand with his head, grateful for the distraction and comforting touch. She must be able to sense his thoughts, or at least the emotions as he could from her. 

His fears ebbed away from the simple touch from her hand. He knew they weren’t soul rider and soul steed. From what he had heard from the others their connection was different. The soul riders and soul steeds did not feel each other’s physical pain like he had, and he had watched them carefully. The horses and humans worked as two units working together, the soul riders had to direct their horses as other humans and horses had to. Perhaps Midnightwarrior was full of himself, but he did not think of himself and Rebecca as separate units. He moved without any direction from her, she understood his feelings even when he was standing perfectly still. Whatever their bond was it was not that of a soul rider and soul steed. It was somehow more intimate, but Midnightwarrior wasn’t sure how. All he knew was that when Rebecca was captive he felt like there was a void in his chest, a pain that was worse than anything he endured when Rebecca was tortured. It wasn’t that his partner was missing, or that he was even missing a part of himself. It was as if he had been missing himself. In some strange way that was beyond personal Midnightwarrior and Rebecca belonged to each other. Rebecca may have possessed a piece of paper making him her legal property, but in terms of who truly possessed who they were equal.


End file.
